Telegraphic alarm-signal



(No Model.) 3 sheets sheet 1. S. E. MOSHER.

TELEGRAPHIG ALARM SIGNAL.

No. 361,020. Patented Apr. 12, 1887.

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. MOSHER.

TELEGRAPHIU ALARM SIGNAL. V

No. 361,020. ,1), Patented. Apr. 12, 1887.

' C1 555? S T O f (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. s. E. M QS HER.

' TELEGRAPHIG ALARM SIGNAL.

Patented Apr. '12, 1887.

IgyJO,

llul

mi bmeoac-aj .OFFICE.

'- a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Ohilli TELEGRAPHICALARM-SIGNAL SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters Patent so. 361,020,dated ApritlZ, 1887. Application filed March 6,1884. SerialNo. 12mm. (Nomodel.)

To alt whom it mayooncerm Be it known thatI, SAMUEL EARL Mosn'nn,

cothe, Ohio, have invented new and useful vImprovements in TelegraphicAlarm-Signals, of winch the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of telegraphy, and is designed to enablethe operator at a ter- -minalor central station to call' or arouse anoperator at any one of. a number of connected stations in a given lineto the exclusionof the linesit is necessary to signal to'all stations,and'all operators must be on the alert in order 15.

others. For example, on ordinary telegraphthat the selected one maydistinguish his call. Moreover, from the peculiar natureoftelegraphservice it is necessary to employa night j as well as a dayforce atall principal stations, whlclrof course entails. great. expense,while service.

of things is especially felt in railway service,

the less important ones are deprived of night The inconvenience of thiscondition where the running of trains both night and day ismanaged bythe aidot the telegraph,

and'wherc the absence of an operator at a criticatj'uncturc is often aserious detriment. .These'mconveniences my invention seeks to remedy,audit does so by providing, in addition to the ordinaryinstrumentalities of teleg" raphy, a system and apparatus whereby analarm. may be sounded at any one of a number of 'connected stations in agiven line without sounding at any other. *It may be further 1 premisedthatthe invention may baemployed in an emergency. 1

in ordinary day. service as a dist-inguishingcall merely and at night asa waking-alarm, thus enabling'a single operator to remain practic a1'lyonconstant duty both night and day without loss of sleep except' whenspecially'called The exact nature of "my invention" ll be more clearlyunderstood from the subj ined descriptionand the accompanyingdrawingsillustrating a preferredvform of mechanism in which the inventionisembodied. v i. In the drawings, Figure 1 exhibits the alarm and itsactuating apparatus in a side elevation;

' Fig. 2, a cross-section of the revolving arma- .ture, showing therelation oflthe insulatedjarid no ninsulated spacesand of thecontact-points,

hereinafter described; Fig.3, a side elevation,

its armatn re stations, a portion of the drawings.

partly sectional of the revolving maguetand Fig. 4, a plan view, inanisometric plane, of the surface of the revolving armature,showing therelative" positions of the contact-spaces and the pathtraversed by thecontact-points when the armature is released; Fig. 5, a front. elevationof the sending apparatus used at the terminal station;

Fig. 6, an end elevation of the same; and Figs,

7, 8,'and 9, elevations and plan of modified forms of sending andreceiving apparatus em-. I

bodying the sameprincjples. Fig. 10 is a diagram representing thelinecircuits of two stationsand the main sendingstatiouwith con: nectedapparatus.

In the drawings accompanying and illustratin'g my invention, 1 haveshown a formof apparatus to be provided at each of the connected whichis in constant and synchronous operation with similar apparatus attheother stations, and so arranged that a tripping or set-off device maybe brought into operative connection therewith by a peculiarmanipulation of the line-current, for the purpose of actuating an'alarmto awakcn or call the attention of the operator. q I

A in the drawings designates an alarmgong provided with any suitablemechanism for its automatic operation. It may be, for example, anordinary clock-work or spring-driven alarm-gong provided with a catchcontrolled by a tripping-finger.

B designates an ordinarysounder,employed in connection with the. sendingand receivingkey at a telegraph-station; or, 'for'the purposes of thisinvention, may be a relay-instra ment of any kind in the working line. p

G designatesthe apparatus for-actuating the alarm, and is constructedand operated asfollows:

In its preferred form, as illustrated in the drawings, it consists of arotating-electro magnet, c, mounted upon insulated pivots bb,

and normally and synchronously rotated with the other similar apparatusat the various sta tions of the line by suitable clock-work,-which Ihave not thought necessary to be shownin magnet is connected bytheordinary brush? contact, l,wi th one of the poles of a local batte'ry,I), and at the other by a'fsi nilar contact,

At one end the helix of the i lar wash cured to the tions, ashereinafter a bifurcated switch-bar,l ,atv mounted upon but insulatedfrom the pivotal axis b, the amatnre being preferably constructed ofmetal, and forming a conductor, as hereinafter described, and arrangedto be drawn into operative contact for the purpose of rotation with therotating magnet c. For the latter purpose, the armature E is providedone end with an annular recess surrounding a core or hub, a,approximatingthe magnet in diameter in order to accommodate thebrush-contacte and preserve the electrical connectlon at all timesduring-the rotation and lateral movement of the armature. The parts areso proportioned and arranged as the armature is attracted toward themagnet it is brought into contact with a ring or annuer, of rubber" orother material, an, seend of the magnet-spool, and by frictional contactrotated in unison therewith against the force of acoiled'sprin ,8,arranged at the opposite end of'the armature, by which it is returned toits normal position of rest when released. I

The cylindrical surface of the armature E is divided into insulated andnon-insulated porjdescribed, operative in connection wit tached to andoperated by the armature of the sounder or relay B, and carrying a Wire0011'- nectlon with the remaining pole of; the local' battery D. Theswitch-bar F terminates in two spring prongs, ff,arranged,respectively,above and below the armature E, so that 1n the ver-' ripheral planeswith reference to the paths draws traversed by the contactpoints of thearms ff.

t is more convenient to arrange them in evident two such planes,allowing a separate path for each. The precise nature of the arrangementa state or will be clearly understood by reference to the 4, showing theperipheralsury diagram, Fig. face of the armature'in an isometric plane.The arms f f are arranged in corresponding planes with the spaces, andit will be obvious that in order to maintaina continuous rotation of thearmature E the conducting or non-insulated spaces must be so arrangedthat when with a cylindrical armature, E, loosely conducting-space, thecircuit from thelocal battery D is closed, the current passing throughthe armature E and .by conductor d magnet c, E, which by frictionalcontact is rotated with the magnet 15. The release of the key throws theprong f into contact with the peripheral surface of the a'i'mature E,and if the given arrangement of conducting-spaces corresponds with themakes and breaks 7 of thekey, the

alternations of contact of the prongs .ff

so long as this condition remains the rotation of thearmature E iscontin gram, g designates the metallic or non-insulated portions of thesurface, faced with insulating material. The length of .the spaces 9 isdetermined by the prearranged alternations of broken and closed circuitof the main-line current, measured with reference to the rotative speedof the armature E'in seconds of time, constituting the combination orsignal derstood 'th'atthe rotation of-the armatnres at thevarionsstations is uniform in speed, and such as to produce a given travel ofthe sur- 1 face of points f in a given time. It will now'be readilyunderstood that-if thew main-line the remainder being current is notmanipulatedto of the cylindrical armatureE, and, striking a 7 7conductor 6 into and through the coil of the rotating electro-magnet c,and back to battery. The electrothus charged, attracts the armature forthe given station, it being un the armature relatively tocontactcorrespond with the arrangement of spaces 9 at the givenstation,

will not maintain an unbroken local circuit. with the battery D butthecircuitwill be broken after a short interval of time, and

consequently the armature E will be released and returned by itsspringto its original po-' sition. This position is movement suificientto actuate the trip pfwill not take place, except when the localcircuit" the movement of the arms is closed continuously, andalthonghthe-trip p on a circuit which is not called may approach nearlyto position to start its call, yet, as the instant it is released thespring not only the armature away 'from the magnet but moves it back toits starting-point, it is that only the proper signallwill be positionfor immediate use, minal spacey of the primary series is extendedlaterally the lateral movement of the armature, sothat In order tomaintain the apparatus in the ter no at its be inning end to accommodateQ- 50 ordinary sliding-brush The modifications exhibited in Figs. 7, 8,:and 9 involve. no departu-re in any essential lines a; m y yin thedrawings, Fig. 4.. Having shown the means and method of ohtaining acontinuous rotation of the armature, it remains to explain its purpose.In Fig. 1 the armature is shown in itsnormal' position of rest, in whicha tripping-pimp, projecting from the end of thearmature; E, rests. aboveto the trippingarm of thealarm mechanism.

It will be obvious that a completerotation of the armature will bringthe pin beneath and lift the arm,which operation releases therestrainingcatch and allows the spring'driven I 5 mechanism to operate,and thus sets oflthe alarm. The contact-spaces areso arranged. that atthat point the contact-points f run off.

upon the insulated portion of the armature surface, and the armature, asalready expl'ained, flies back to its original position.

In Fig. 5 is shown a side elevationj of an -apparatus embodying the sameprinciples, designed to operate as a sender at the terminal I station.In this a metallic roll, E, is eni- 2-5 pl'oyed having an insulatedsurface, excepting eertainportions,arranged as contact-spaces inseparate peripheral planes'and correspond ing, respectively, with theseveral armatures at the receiving-stations, excepting that in this.case each set of contact-spaces is brought into one plane instead oftwo. The roll E is in continuous rotation synchronously with the severalrevolving magnets at thevarious stations, and consequently with thearmatures 5 when the latter are broughtinto play. Above the roll isarranged a contact-finger, q, adjust- .able laterally upon a cross-bar,r, forming a conductor, so as to form asliding contact with the roll atany of the several planes of the o contact-spaces. Theapparatus isplaced in a loop of the main line, provided with a suitable j switch,8', so that upon adj usting the finger tothe proper contact-spaces themain line enr- 1 rent is'brpken .in proper alternations toaetuate thedesired signal at the designated receiving-station upon turning theswitch directing the line-current into the roll Eatvone'side and thecrossbar and finger. q upon the'ot'her, the line-contactwith the'rollbeing made with the principle from the foregoing. In the appar'atusshown in Figs. 7 and 8 the sounder B carriestwoconducting-arms,f f,correspond inginarrangement and function with those before described,ff",) but operating inconneetion with a-flat disk, E, mounted onavertieal shaft, 7, restin'gin a fixed socket below andjournaled abovein-an arm, k, pivoted to *movehorizontally under the influence often, 5eleetro-magnet,G. The shaft hfcarriesaspnr 1 wheel, i,.wh icliby themovement of the shaft-. jaterallyis carriedl'into'and out-of'erigageg5-5 :ment with an intermeshing gear of the operanus clock-work.Connection jet-madev be- "tween the armsf ff and the lo'eal-battery'p,

unimpeded, the contact-points in suehcase'. traversing the pathsindicated by the dotted the other pole of the battery being connectedwith the magnet-coilO and thence w th the shaft h.

The margin 7 vidcd'into insulated and non-insulated spaces,. arrangedupon the principle already descrlbed, the spaces being alternated uponthe; upper andlower' surfacesto operate in connectlon with'the arms f" Iarranged upon the shaft to-return it to its normal position of rest whenreleased, a suitable mate position, and a tripping-pin',p, uponthe disk,to engage the 1ever it of the alarm mechanism, substantially as beforedescribed.

For the sen be'plaeed upon suitable rotating mechanism in proper;relation with a .contact-armconstituting part of a loop in the mainline, which can beswitehed in at the willof the operator. I prefer,however, to arrange an eleetro-ruagnet, 0', beneath the ordinarysendingrkey t, the magnet being in local circuit with a battery, D, andthe disk E, the latter be1 ng one of a number,as before stated, whichcan be substituted upon tating mechanism,

or i k and thus automatically conkey. a

It will also be ing the spaces as arranged for the given armature, agiven alarm can ing, hammer a. is made to constitute a-switeh in themain line, so as to break contact at each sendingoperaton- [Igclaim anddesire to secure by Letters 'lEatent---'- I '1. In; combination with .aseries of alarm mechanisms at the various station's, each conprovidedwith, I driving mechanism constantly andsynchrobut brought into coactionwith normally-inert,

by a local-battery 611- the driving mechanism makes and break s in the;main line, stantially asset forth. .1

ratus and amelayflarmature employed, asa contact-switch in the localcircuit, a set-0ft device or apparatus consisting, of ,a. rotatableconductor'providedw tha vdeliiinsulations arranged in per,condu'ctorbeing the armature a surface of the disk 11 is diding-stationa dupliea'taef each of the disks is provided, any one of which can trolthe line-current by actuatingthe ordinary coact with'the contact-switch,saidrotatable of'a eonstantly rotating e1ectro-"-magnet,,and broughtnter A spiral spring, '8", is

stop,vl, being provided to determine its ulti-- 7 n connection with theroobvious that, knowing the 7 time oceu 'iied"by the contact-arms 1ntraversbe actuated by the ordinary manipulation of the keyby the send: 7ing-operator, and that if the arm of the StI'lkmovement, as shown inFig. '1, notice that the alarm is sounded may thus be returned to thesisting,.'essentiallyifi of, first, an alarm-gong striking mechan sm;second, 7 r15 nously in operation; third, seteflT mechanism.

cuit selectively-eontrolledifr'om the mainoffice a by a prearrangedsuccession and duration {if no 2. In combination with. Ithe alarm a'ppaI nite system of "surface 'insulations and nonipheral paths to 1temporary rotative eonneetleniwith said mags; not by manipulations ofthe'hnaeurrent r orresubstantially, r

spondir'ig with said system of conducting-surfaces of the conductor,substantially as set forth.

8. The alarnractuating apparatus consisting, substantially, ofa rotatingelectro-magnet, c, its-rotatable armature E, and the relay-armature Fallin local circuit-in combination with the main line and the alarm-gong,operat ing as set forth.

4. The rotating clecl'ro-magnet c, mounted upon axial pivots, andprovided with brushcontacts d c, in combination with a cylindricalarmature, E, constructed as described, pr0- vided with a retraetilespring, 5, and trip ping-pin p, and arranged in local circuit with abattery, D, and vibrating switch F, as a means of setting off alarmmechanism,substant-ially as and for the purpose set forth.

- 5. In combination with alarm apparatus arranged at thereceiving-stations of a telegraph- 1ine,and adapted to be actuated bydefinite predetermined manipulations of the line-current, anautomatically-rotated cylinder, E,provided with surface insulations andnon-insulations arranged in separate peripheral planes correspondingwith said predetermined manipulations, and with a slidingcontact-finger, q, ad- I justable to any one of said planes, the wholearranged in a loop of themain line for the purpose of actuating any oneof the alarm mech anisms exclusively, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my my hand in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL EARL MOSl-IER. \Vitnesscs:

L. W. HOSEA,

C. SHAIPELL.

